Plant growth is determined by a variety of environmental factors including temperature, available water, available light, and available nutrients in the soil. The nutrients necessary for plant growth include: the primary macronutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K); the secondary macronutrients calcium (Ca), sulfur (S), magnesium (Mg); and the micronutrients or trace minerals boron (B), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), selenium (Se). Fertilizers, also referred to herein as plant food, supplement the soil with varying amounts of the nutrients necessary for plant growth.
In this invention, oilseed extract and/or corn steep liquor are combined with whey to produce an organic plant food. Oilseed extract is obtained from the caustic refining of crude vegetable oils. Since refined vegetable oils are used in food products, e.g., cooking oils, shortenings and margarine, the crude oils obtained from their respective seeds must be purified to remove the undesirable constituents that would impair their commercial viability (e.g., shelf life, etc.). The refining byproduct lipid (RBL), or soapstock, as it is known in the trade, is split into oil and water components. When the acidic aqueous fraction is brought to approximate neutrality by use of a nutrient base such as potassium hydroxide or ammonium hydroxide the resultant liquid is oilseed extract.
The undesirable constituents that are removed from crude vegetable oils, are the natural germination compounds found in all seeds. These compounds are removed in the caustic refining process and reside in soapstock. When soapstock is split primarily to recover the free fatty acids and crude oil lost in refining for use in feed rations, the balance (typically 50% w/w of the soapstock) is the aqueous fraction. The aqueous fraction is the oilseed extract and contains all of the soluble organic and organo-metallic compounds found in seeds that allow the plant to reproduce via germination. Analysis of oilseed extract shows it contains the three (3) primary plant nutrients: N, P, K; the three (3) secondary plant nutrients: S, Ca and Mg; and most, if not all, of the trace element micronutrients such as Cu, Fe and Zn. In addition, oilseed extract contains high levels of carbohydrates that encourage growth of beneficial microorganisms. Oilseed extract has been described as a “perfect plant food”.
Corn steep liquor (CSL) (CAS #66071-94-1) is a byproduct of the corn wet-milling process used to obtain corn starch and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
CSL is a viscous liquid mixture consisting entirely of the water soluble extracts/components of corn steeped in water. All constituents are naturally occurring nutritive materials such as crude proteins (e.g., N), amino acids (e.g., N), vitamins, carbohydrates (e.g., dextrose), organic acids (e.g., lactic acid), minerals (e.g., Mg, P, K, Ca and S), enzymes and other elemental nutrients. Approximately 50% of CSL is water with the remainder composed of the natural nutritive “building blocks” listed above. The primary use of CSL is as a nutrient for ruminant animals.
The nutrients in CSL, in addition to feed use for ruminants, can be used to fertilize plants. CSL contains the three (3) primary plant nutrients: N, P and K; the three (3) secondary plant nutrients: S, Ca and Mg; as well as trace element micronutrients. In addition, CSL contains carbohydrates that are biodegradable carbon sources that encourage the growth of beneficial microorganisms. As such, CSL is similar in effectiveness as a plant food as oilseed extract.
The protein in milk exists in two (2) forms, as a suspension/colloidal (casein) and in a soluble form (whey proteins).
Whey, a byproduct of cheese manufacture, is high in nitrogen, a primary plant nutrient; high in calcium, an important secondary plant nutrient; and, in addition to minor amounts of other beneficial plant minerals/nutrients, is high in carbohydrates, primarily lactose and/or lactic acid.
Whey is dehydrated and the powder used primarily as a protein rich health-food supplement. However, as noted in the previous discussion of oilseed extract and CSL, whey's components have use as plant food due to their high nitrogen and calcium content. In addition, whey contains carbohydrates that encourage growth of beneficial microorganisms.
Although each ingredient above is individually known to have use as a plant food, combinations of the above have not been disclosed. Nor have such combinations been obvious to those skilled in the art.
Daniels Pinnacle® 3-1-1 Organic Professional Greenhouse Nursery Plant Food combines Soluble Organic Nitrogen and Chilean Nitrate with oilseed extract. The Pinnacle plant food is certified organic in the United States, but due to the use of nitrates, can not be certified as organic in many foreign countries, including the European Union. Plant food that does not have nitrates is desired so it can be certified and distributed as an organic plant food in both the United States and in a variety of foreign countries.
For a fertilizer to be certified as organic it must satisfy specific governmental standards. The governmental standards may vary from country to country, and in fact the regulations for the European Union are slightly different from those of the United States. The term “organic” as used in the pending application is intended to represent that the fertilizer has satisfied the standards for being denoted as organic in both the United States and the European Union.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates organic certification within the United States through a National Organic Program (NOP). To qualify to use the organic label the requesting organization must be certified as satisfying a variety of guidelines by an NOP accredited certification agency. One such requirement for certification is abiding by a National List that is produced by NOP. The National List identifies what can and cannot be included in certified organic products. Specifically, all nonsynthetic (natural) materials are allowed, unless specifically prohibited and synthetic substances and ingredients and nonagricultural substances are prohibited unless specifically allowed.
Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 regulates organic production and labeling of organic products within the European Union (EU). To claim a product is organic, an organization must gain approval from a certification agency. Fertilizers may only be used if they have been authorized for use in organic products and mineral nitrogen fertilizers may not be used. One key distinction between the EU and the US is that the EU prohibits the use of sodium nitrate in organic products. Therefore, for a fertilizer to be certified organic in both the US and the EU it can not have nitrates.
Combinations of the above ingredients serve to make an improved commercial organic plant food formulation because each individual ingredient contains higher concentrations of plant nutrients than either of the other individual components.